Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle

"Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle" is an exhibit running now through August at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. The exhibition champions the designs of six internationally renowned bicycle builders who create some of the beautiful and painstakingly crafted one-of-a-kind rides currently available.

The designers featured include Mike Flanigan, Jeff Jones, Dario Pegoretti, Richard Sachs, J. Peter Weigle, and Sacha White. The exhibit is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated, 128-page catalog, which includes candid portraits of each of the builders, along with detail photography of all of the bicycles.

A bit of history:

In the 1980s and 1990s the demand for handbuilt bicycles was eclipsed by the popularity of costly factory-produced racing bikes endorsed (if not actually ridden) by star cyclists. Custom frame builders also had to contend with a new and booming market for mass-manufactured mountain bikes. Over the past decade, renewed interest in craft, coupled with a rising social movement favoring the durable over the disposable and supporting cycling's physical and environmental benefits, has contributed to a revival of handbuilt bicycles and fostered a new generation of artisans and clientele.

See the exhibit in person through August 15, and read more about it here.